The Heart Sutra

[Torchwood]

For one of my assignments for Indian Religions I've had to give a offer a reading of the Heart Sutra. This has meant many hours reserching various translations etc. but I'm wondering what the Heart Sutra means to different poeple and how they interpret it.

Therefore, O Sariputra,
in emptiness there is no form nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness ;
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind ; No forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or objects of mind ; No sight-organ element, and so forth, until we come to :
No mind-consciousness element ; There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, and so forth, until we come to : There is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death. There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path.
There is no cognition, no attainment and no non-attainment.

Everything is sunyata, that's basically the message.

Since all conditioned phenomena (read: pretty much anything and everything) are ultimately empty, it causes ignorance and suffering to cling to them; whilst, at the same time, there is no such thing as suffering or ignorance, only our craving and grasping create the phenomenon of suffering as we search for permanence to latch onto, which itself is an illusion since there is nothing independent of the whole.

Because of the emptiness of objects and subjects, it's necessary to develop the perfect wisdom that allows one to pierce through the seemingly solid appearance nature of things, and see the causal interdependence of everything and anything.

Or at least that's my interpretation. It's subject to revision as my understanding improves

[CSEe]

Perhaps is easier to say that emptiness is ME and the polluted energy that causes my existance is all my emotions, desire , love , compassion etc that I known it as MYSELF ...so Buddhism is a process that I will naturally detach MYSELF from ME ...free ME from MYSELF .......not by practice , not by desire , not by planning but by a PROCESS being awake to aware , aware to realize , realize to accept , accept to further aware until I naturally let go myself .....be just me -the emptiness
Thks
CSEe

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by Animus27

Everything is sunyata, that's basically the message.

Since all conditioned phenomena (read: pretty much anything and everything) are ultimately empty, it causes ignorance and suffering to cling to them; whilst, at the same time, there is no such thing as suffering or ignorance, only our craving and grasping create the phenomenon of suffering as we search for permanence to latch onto, which itself is an illusion since there is nothing independent of the whole.

Because of the emptiness of objects and subjects, it's necessary to develop the perfect wisdom that allows one to pierce through the seemingly solid appearance nature of things, and see the causal interdependence of everything and anything.

Or at least that's my interpretation. It's subject to revision as my understanding improves

Yes, see this, not try and become it. That would make life one big mistake. See this emptiness and create using that blank canvas.

[Samana]

Hi Torchwood,


This may be of interest in connection with your Heart Sutra studies:

" Is the Lotus Sutra authentic?" by Ajahn Sujato (Buddhist teacher and abbot)

http://sujato.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/is-the-lotus-sutra-authentic/

Excerpt:

That the Lotus Sutra and other Mahayana Sutras were not spoken by the Buddha is unanimously supported by modern scholarship. I don’t know of a single academic in the last 150 years who has argued otherwise.

with kind wshes,

S.


.

[Ground]

Originally Posted by Torchwood

For one of my assignments for Indian Religions I've had to give a offer a reading of the Heart Sutra. This has meant many hours reserching various translations etc. but I'm wondering what the Heart Sutra means to different poeple and how they interpret it.

Therefore, O Sariputra,
in emptiness there is no form nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness ;
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind ; No forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or objects of mind ; No sight-organ element, and so forth, until we come to :
No mind-consciousness element ; There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, and so forth, until we come to : There is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death. There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path.
There is no cognition, no attainment and no non-attainment.

I think the crucial point is the expression 'in emptiness' and what is stands for. As the text expresses it it may be misunderstood as a mere nihilistic negation if emptiness is misunderstood as a truth set in contrast with everthing other than emptiness being non-truth or illusion.
What is missing there is that 'in emptiness' there isn't even emptiness which however may appear to be an irrational expression that is avoided if put this way: when all is absent even emptiness cannot be found.

[Shaunc]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the heart sutra spoken by Kuan Yin rather than the Buddha. It's the only sutra not spoken by the Buddha.

[Ground]

Originally Posted by Shaunc

It's the only sutra not spoken by the Buddha.

No that's not correct. Often you have several speakers having a communication.

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by Shaunc

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the heart sutra spoken by Kuan Yin rather than the Buddha. It's the only sutra not spoken by the Buddha.

You are correct.

[django]

Hakuin Ekaku’s painting, “Blind Men Crossing the Bridge”.




Hakuin Ekaku’s “Blind Men Crossing the Bridge” is often described as a visual representation of crossing over to enlightenment. All Buddhists are familiar with this metaphor of crossing over through the Heart Sutra’s end chant that may be interpreted as, “Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone to the other shore, all hail.”

Hakuin wrote in his commentary on the Heart Sutra that, “The Chinese translation for this is ‘reach the other shore’. But where is that? The place where the Treasure is lies near at hand—take one more step! Is there a soul on earth who belongs on ‘this other shore’? How sad to stand mistaken on a wave-lashed quay!”

https://augustmeditations.wordpress....ng-the-bridge/